A birthday celebration in Bulandshahr, India, turned tragic after the birthday boy shot three friends dead for smearing cake on his face.
Smearing cake on people’s faces on their birthday is a well-known tradition, and while we’ve seen it go wrong on rare occasions, we can’t remember it ever being cited as a motive for murder. Well, at least until this month, anyway, because Indian media recently reported a man shooting three of his friends dead for playfully smearing cake on his face at his birthday party.
The unusual incident took place last Saturday, at a gym in the Khurja town district of Bulandshahr, where young Jeetu Saini was celebrating his birthday with some friends. When the cake was served, some of Jeetu’s pals smeared cake on his face as a joke, but the gesture was met with unexpected hostility by the birthday boy.
According to eyewitnesses, 33-year-old Jeetu got into a heated argument with Amardeep Saini, Manish Saini, and Akash Saini over having cake smeared on his face, before storming out of the gym, only to return with a group of men and a licensed gun.
Sanjay Saini, the brother of one of the victims, told reporters that Jeetu had called him on the night of the incident to complain that his brother had been disrespectful to him during his birthday party and that he had used foul language. Sanjay tried to calm him down, promising to handle the matter personally the following morning because he needed to attend a wedding, but he never had the chance to do that.
Upon returning to the gym, Jeetu Saini reportedly opened fire on the three men he had previously argued with, before anyone had any chance to react. During the panic that ensued, he and his accomplices fled the scene and are currently on the run from police.
“Late tonight, the Khurja Nagar police station received information that three young men had been shot. Police immediately arrived at the scene. The young men were admitted to the hospital in critical condition, where they were declared dead,” Antriksh Jain of the Khurja Nagar police station told the ANI news agency. “The reason revealed is that it was the birthday of one of the accused, during which the deceased put cake on his face. There was an altercation between them. This altercation led to this incident today.”
Over 15 people have been detained for questioning, but the main suspect, Jeetu Saini, is still on the loose
